Familiars

General
FAMILIARS are supernatural beings who serve witches. as they are servants, they must find their witch as opposed to the witch finding them. once chosen, they are bound to their master and cannot leave or find a different one because they share a special bond and would die for each other. familiars spend half their lives as an animal and the other half as a human. many familiars are very protective of their masters and will not be happy if others get too close to their witch, whether romantic or otherwise. if a witch and a familiar have been bonded long enough, they begin to feel each others emotions , and those who are powerful can even communicate telepathically.

A familiar is a magic-user’s spiritual helper manifest in animal form. For many, it takes on the appearance of a common household pet and many have reported the same spirit returning time as a household pet, moving from the body of the elder pet as it passes on, into the body of a younger pet who is brought into the household. These spirits do not always take the form or a pet, however. Medieval texts describe some familiars that were humanoid or even monstrous in appearance but in all cases, these were described as appearing as actual physical beings (though in some cases, not everyone could see them.) Most familiars, however, are very common and ordinary in appearance with common, ordinary names. Although bonded to the witch they serve, familiars have their own personalities, goals, and prejudices. In other words, they are by most accounts real, solid beings. Not thoughtforms or constructs. Or, if they originated as one of these, they have existed so long that they have developed into sentient beings in their own right.

Familiars have been described as demons or faeries depending on the time period, the attitude of the person doing the describing and their opinion of the magic-user they are talking about. On researching the subject deeper, it would seem that there are, indeed, different types of familiars.

Some people use the words Totem, Power Animal and Spirit Animal synonymously with the word familiar. You may wish to also read those articles for clarity.

Powers & Abilities

 * MAGIC THAT STEMS FROM THE ASTRAL PLANE
 * 'RIDING' (A WITCH CAN IMPRINT THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS INTO THE FAMILIAR-ALLOWING THEM TO SEE, HEAR, AND FEEL THROUGH THEM )
 * ENCHANCES THE WITCH'S POWER
 * CAN HAVE POWER STORED INTO THEM
 * CAN ABSORB NEGETIVE ENERGY FROM THE WITCH INTO THEM
 * SHAPESHIFT, TRANSFER SOUL INTO ANOTHER
 * CREATES BARRIERS ( MAINLY FOR PROTECTION ).

Weaknesses

 * ANYTHING THAT CAN NATURALLY KILL A HUMAN, BEING DRAINED OF ALL MAGIC, BEING OVERLOADED, GOLD.

Lifespan
ANIMAL LIFE SPAN ( DEPENDS ON ANIMAL ) BUT CAN TRANSFER THEIR DYING SOUL INTO A YOUNGER ANIMAL.